U.S. Persists in Attempt to Asphyxiate Cuba, Sanctions Bank

Determined to provoke the asphyxiation of Cuba, the U.S. government announced today new sanctions that would affect the island's financial system, this time against the International Commerce Bank S.A. (BICSA).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued another slanderous statement on Thursday in which he indicated that President Donald Trump "has been absolutely clear" that under his administration anti-American influence in the Western Hemisphere would not be tolerated.

Rubio used the false argument about the danger to U.S. national security posed by "communist Cuba," alleging that it has operated in this hemisphere "as a platform for malicious actors and terrorist groups."

The Secretary of State said that "the International Commerce Bank S.A. (BICSA) of Cuba has provided services to the designated Iranian bank Karafarin Bank since at least 2022."

Since the Treasury Department sanctioned Karafarin Bank under Executive Order (E.O.) 13902 in 2020, in correspondence with the supposed "Iranian financial actors," it imposed the penalty on the Cuban state entity BICSA.

The measure increases the risk for foreign banks and companies that maintain certain transactions with the Cuban entity, which is one more example of the extraterritoriality of the tight economic, commercial, and financial blockade that has weighed on the Caribbean nation for more than six decades.

This new step was adopted under Executive Order 14404, issued by President Trump last May, which expands the powers to sanction persons and entities linked to the Government of Cuba.

In less than four months, Trump's White House has dealt sanctions against the island's main banks amid a brutal reinforcement of Washington's unilateral siege.

Since returning to the executive mansion in January 2025, the Republican leader has asserted U.S. expansionism and attempted domination in the Western Hemisphere under what has been called the "Donroe Doctrine," a corollary of the Trump era to the Monroe Doctrine.

In his speech on September 22 at the UN headquarters, Trump repeated the rhetoric that Cuba is "a failed state," a pretext they try to use in their plans of aggression against the island nation. Given the slanders, the Cuban delegation left the plenary hall of the General Assembly.